General Conservation Plan for the Alabama Beach Mouse; Categorical Exclusion; Baldwin County, AL

Issuing agencies

Abstract

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce receipt of an application from each of Kitty Bowden, Tracey Thompson, and Douglas J. Spurling (applicant/applicants) for three separate incidental take permits (ITP) pursuant to the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the National Environmental Policy Act under the Service's approved General Conservation Plan (GCP) and final environmental impact statement for the Alabama beach mouse. A GCP is a conservation plan under the ESA that enables the programmatic permitting and conservation process to address a defined suite of proposed activities over a defined planning area. Each applicant requests an ITP to take the federally listed Alabama Beach Mouse incidental to the construction of deck additions, a single-family home, and a pool with deck in Baldwin County, Alabama. We request public comment on these applications, which include each applicant's proposed habitat conservation plan (HCP), as well as on the Service's preliminary determination that the proposed permitting action may qualify under the terms of the Alabama beach mouse GCP. We certify that each of the applications received is statutorily complete and include the necessary information to enroll in the GCP.